In the United States: The Specter of Famine Looms Over the Country

Lebanon Today

The United States is witnessing serious and unprecedented warnings of a looming hunger crisis, expected to hit the country at the beginning of next November, if the federal government shutdown continues and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) is not renewed, on which more than 42 million Americans rely to secure their daily food needs.

Food security experts confirm that the current situation may represent the most dangerous living crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, warned that what will happen “is not an exaggeration but a harsh reality,” noting that millions of Americans may suddenly find themselves without any support or food.

The “SNAP” program is considered a basic safety net for the most vulnerable groups, such as low-income workers, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Each beneficiary receives a monthly support averaging only $187. However, the US Department of Agriculture has warned its regional administrations of the imminent depletion of funding and issued orders to suspend payments until further notice, which portends an unprecedented internal humanitarian crisis.

On the political level, this file has turned into a sharp conflict between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans accuse their opponents of disrupting the budget by insisting on supporting health care within public spending, while Democrats respond that Trump’s law known as “One Big Beautiful Bill” had allocated $187 billion from “SNAP” allocations until 2024.

More than 200 Democratic representatives sent an urgent message to the Department of Agriculture demanding the use of reserve funds to avoid the cessation of aid, warning that abandoning millions of families “would be a gross violation of moral and national responsibility.”

The conflict over food funding intersects with the issue of health care, as Democrats believe that the beneficiaries of the two supports are the same groups, which makes the continuation of funding a matter of “life or death.”

With negotiations faltering in Washington and the shutdown continuing, America stands on the cusp of a major social and economic crisis that may bring back memories of the long queues and mass unemployment that characterized the Great Depression, amid questions about the ability of the world’s largest economy to protect its poor citizens from hunger.